INTERIM St Helens boss Eamon O’Carroll praised the character his side showed to see out a 36-12 win over Castleford Tigers after being reduced to ten men.
Saints had to do without captain Jackson Hastings in the second half after he was shown a red card for a punch on Tyler Dupree, while Alex Walmsley and Chris Matagi were sent to the sin bin in the final minutes.
O’Carroll was pleased with the response to that adversity, while insisting discipline is not an issue for his side.
“I wanted to see the attitude of the players and there was no better way to display that than when we went a man down for 40 minutes,” he said.
“Our theme before the game was talent versus attitude, and the players were fantastic.
“I don’t think we are an indisciplined side at all. We will have to look at why there were so many yellows, and how we can be better in terms of not going a man down.
“When you are in that position, down to twelve or eleven men, I will accept that because I’m asking them to give penalties away to control the game.
“If we don’t do that, we end up leaking 20-odd points, so they’re not letting the side down. They’re driving everything that we’re doing at the minute.”